The Journey of Marco Polo from Italy to China (and back to Venice...)

during the years 1271-1295.

Note to Teachers: The first two program links here I think would be suitable for high school students,

then I include several books more suitable for younger students. There are tons of "age appropriate" resources for your use...

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August 2016 Update: Unfortunately the link to the Marco Polo Program (from about 5 years ago) no longer works. I'll upate with other relevant links
as I find them... Allen

"In the Footsteps of Marco Polo" an online program from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Marco/index.html

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Left: Marco Polo in Italy. Right: Kublai Khan in Mongolia. Both circa the late 1200's...

"In the Footsteps of Marco Polo" a free PBS Movie Documentary to view online -- awesome.

http://www.wliw.org/marcopolo/video/watch-the-full-episode/324/

This is a full-length movie, so you may wish to have students view it in smaller unit sections, as they indeed appear at youtube,

focusing on one country or region at a time: with appropriate research, activity projects, class discussions, etc

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Here are a couple of books for younger readers, the first one is an arts activities book as well, just glimpsed at amazon...

many available at your public libraries...

There is certainly lots of Arts Education and History in the Life and Travels of Marco Polo... Enjoy your journey...

National Geographic "Marco Polo's Odyssey" is a nice 10 minute brief summary, narrated slide show with photos, music, and map.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/data/2001/07/01/sights_n_sounds/media.2.2.html

Next is a series of contemporary photos by Michael Yamashita from his National Geographic Book "Marco Polo" published in 2002.

Then a current National Geographic magazine article and photography gallery of modern-day Venice with its inevitable

"battle with the sea..."